Leslie's Double Overtime Goal Propels Men's Soccer to Victory

MISENHEIMER, NC – The Pfeiffer University men’s soccer team (1-0-1) pulled out a dramatic 1-0 victory over Lenoir Rhyne (1-1-0) on Simon Leslie’s double overtime winner in the 103rd minute.

“Lenoir-Rhyne is a very good team and they are going to win a lot of games this season,” said Head Coach Bob Reasso. “We had some trouble in the first 15-20 minutes because we were sitting too deep but we started to extend the pressure and that helped improve our play. As a whole, we played well and I’m really proud of the effort.”

The physical game saw four yellow cards handed out and 35 fouls called. The game was scoreless through the first two halves and one overtime period, but each time had good opportunities to get on the board.

In the 23rd minute, Seth Dey lobbed a shot from outside the shot that hit off the crossbar. Moments later, Dammy Baloguin had his shot blocked by a defender and cleared out of the zone. The Bears had a chance to convert in the first half as well. In the 35th minute, the Bears had goalie Nicolas Dulac out of the net and fired a shot that would have given the Falcons the lead. However, Alex Rebolledo was there to block the shot and keep the game scoreless.

In the second half, the Falcons had another opportunity to take the lead when they had an open net to shoot at. Aldo Ramirez fired a shot that was headed for the goal line before a defender made a sliding save and sent the ball out of bounds.

The team’s would battle back-and-forth the rest of the afternoon until the second overtime. The Bears were whistled for a foul near midfield and Dey served the ball in. Nick Janes corralled the ball and set a pass to Leslie who ripped a shot from 12 yards out to give Pfeiffer the hard fought victory.

For the match, Dulac made 10 saves to keep the Falcons within striking distance. Stefan Dill made three stops for the Bears.

Lenoir-Rhyne held a 20-14 advantage in shots and took eight corner kicks to Pfeiffer’s four.

The Falcons return to action on Friday night when they take on Clayton State in the Clayton State Classic at 7:30 p.m.